Harry Potter and Moaning Myrtle's deathpostlife AU
by BronwynW
Summary: Whatever happened to Moaning Myrtle? What if Myrtle was not merely disliked by most, but misunderstood? Can Moaning Myrtle's memories help Hermione figure out the missing pieces of Myrtle's life/afterlife?
1. Chapter 1

_Note: Alternative Universe Story_

_Whatever became of Moaning Myrtle?_

_Scene takes place after the fourth book ended and before the fifth book began:_

_Chapter One_

Hermione Granger felt annoyed because she needed to meet with her friends Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley when she should be studying. She normally spent her spare time in the library doing a bit of extra credit for her classes, but since it was only the first day back from Christmas Feast, Hermione could spare a few minutes to talk to her friends.

When Harry had caught up with her in one of the hallways earlier he'd spoken urgently and something inside his tone made her want to listen with more attentiveness. She'd looked at him with interest when he said, "I need to talk to you Hermione, meet me and Ron in the common room during your free hour; it's important."

She approached Harry now, holding a few books in her arms and she noticed that Ron was sitting on the sofa in front of the fire as well. She swallowed nervously as she caught Ron's gaze and looked quickly away paying particular attention instead, to the environment around her. There were several students occupying the room, and many of them sat in small clusters of groups laughing and spending time with their friends before they were required to go back to their classes.

Hermione felt the comfortable atmosphere, and with the warmth of the fire so near, she was able to let go of some of the tension which always seemed to linger inside of her. "Alright Harry, what is the problem that simply couldn't wait until later, when I am _not_ busy writing notes for my classes?"

"She's always busy writing notes for something," said Ron rolling his eyes and shaking his head at Harry. He directed his gaze to Hermione and asked her, "Why can't you put your time to good use and write some extra notes for me? I could use some help with Herbology and you know I always say thank you, whenever you lend me a hand."

Hermione sighed, "Honestly, if you would take the time to write your own notes Ronald…"

"Then I wouldn't have you to depend upon," supplied Ron looking at her with a deceptively agreeable smile. He added, "But I thought you liked the thought of my needing you?"

Hermione sighed as she reached inside one of her books and took out several stacks of notes she'd already prepared and handed them to him, "Here," she said. "Take them."

"Ah Hermione, you're so good to me. Have I told you how incredibly sweet you can be?"

"Only whenever you need something, like extra notes for Herbology class," Hermione rolled her eyes and cleared her throat before she finally looked over at Harry.

"You never said what the problem was Harry?"

"What's my problem? Do you really want to know?" Harry looked at Hermione with irritation clearly etched on his features, although Hermione noticed immediately that the emotion wasn't directed at her.

Harry turned around and Hermione gasped as a ghost suddenly flew from behind the sofa and stayed suspended in the air directly above them. Hermione recognized her in an instant. "It's Moaning Myrtle."

The ghost had long, drab hair and she wore pearl rimmed glasses which did nothing to enhance the color or the shape of her eyes. Moaning Myrtle did not like Hermione because she had overheard her speaking about her during their second year at Hogwarts and she took offense to her words. Moaning Myrtle looked at Hermione now with suspicion, "What is _she_ doing here Harry? I thought we were going to spend some time together, isn't that what you wanted?"

"Myrtle, look I'm not…" Harry tried to explain he wasn't interested in Moaning Myrtle as anything except a friend but the words were lodged in his throat.

Hermione tried to hide a smile when she saw how at odds Harry appeared to be; then the ghost settled next to him and Ron on the sofa and laid her head on Harry's shoulder. She was looking at him with adoring eyes as if she had some sort of crush on him. Hermione didn't think Moaning Myrtle had it in her and was pleasantly surprised at the idea of the ghost liking Harry in a romantic way.

When Ron tried pushing Myrtle off the sofa, his hands predictably went straight through her. Ron's annoyance was palpable; he looked as if he wanted to do more than push the ghost from her seat. Moaning Myrtle turned to Ron and suddenly screamed at the top of her lungs, _"Sure just push your hands clear through me! Why should it matter if you hurt the ghost's feelings? Who cares that I do nothing except cry all day in the bathroom stalls? It's only Ugly Moaning Myrtle, whoever thinks about her?"_

Ron looked startled to say the least and Hermione intervened saying, "Look, Myrtle I don't think he meant to push you out of the way. He was simply trying to-"

She flashed her eyes at Hermione and cried out,_ "I didn't ask for your opinion did I? You are the one who was making fun of me behind my back! Why should you feel sorry for me? After all, I am only a ghost? It's not like I'm a real person!"_

When Myrtle finished yelling at Hermione she screeched and wailed so loudly that most of the students around them covered their ears and winced. Hermione watched as Moaning Myrtle paused before she turned to Harry saying in a soft voice, _"Oh by the way Harry, if you'd like to take a bath anytime in the lavatory again, you could use my bathroom. I'll share it with you."_

"Erm, thanks Myrtle. But I'm fine," Harry exhaled slowly when she departed and all three friends looked at the empty space where she'd only recently been.

"That was strange," said Hermione.

"Strange," scoffed Ron, "If by strange you mean completely mental then, yeah. It was _strange_."

"No," said Hermione shaking her head when she said. "Moaning Myrtle never comes into the common room. She mostly sticks to the bathrooms and wanders through the plumbing, but she very rarely leaves her usual places."

"This is what you think of after that just happened?" Harry looked at her with a grudging smile before he grew tired and said, "What am I going to do Hermione? She won't leave me alone. She follows me everywhere!"

"And when he says _everywhere_," snickered Ron. "He means everywhere. She even followed him into the boy's lavatory the other day."

"I'll bet that was an awkward moment," said Hermione smiling with amusement in spite of the situation. She settled down however, when Harry gave her a pained expression as if he were truly vexed with the ghost and had no idea how to get rid of her.

"When did she first start following you around Harry?"

"About a week after she helped me with the egg clue during the Goblet of Fire competition," Harry didn't look at either Ron or Hermione when he mentioned this news. "She's been fixated on me ever since and I can't shake her no matter what I say to her. I've even told her to leave me alone a few times and it's like she doesn't even hear me even though I know she's listening."

Hermione frowned but then she said, "I feel bad about what is happening to you Harry, but what do you think _I_ can do about it?"

"Well you're a girl." Ron laughed at this small comment and muttered something unintelligible beneath his breath but Harry ignored him while Hermione tossed him a quick glare before Harry asked her. "So, can you go talk to her? Maybe you can find out why she's suddenly grown attached to me?"

"I suppose I could," Hermione sighed and added, "but it's not going to be easy. Moaning Myrtle isn't exactly the most approachable ghost around."

"Thanks Hermione," Harry looked relieved when he said, "I'll owe you for this one."

Hermione nodded and said to her friend, "Yeah Harry. You will."

Hermione knew something was terribly wrong when she heard news that Moaning Myrtle's bathroom had been flooded by the ghost. The facility had been flooded only once before when the ghost had been hit in the head by Tom Riddle's book. She had planned to visit Moaning Myrtle later on that day, but had been delayed by having to take an extra test in one of her classes. So now, she headed toward the headmaster's office in order to meet with Albus Dumbledore for more information. Hermione wanted to see if she could find out more answers about the girl, not only in order to help Harry with his dilemma, but to help the ghost as well.

When Hermione entered the headmaster's office she noticed him sitting in his chair busy writing in the air on an invisible chalk board. The words on the invisible board appeared in large angular shapes and Hermione could only see the beginning of a list being prepared. She saw his short little quill move around in the air as if it had a mind of its own and noticed also that the quill looked to be no bigger than the size of her pinky finger. She smiled at Dumbledore when she approached him and before she could say anything he turned to face her.

"Hermione Granger," his voice softened as he said, "I trust you are doing well with your extra classes you had requested a few weeks ago?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded enthusiastically at the reminder, "I've been busy studying for them all, especially Transformation of Small Creatures. I find that it's very interesting to turn a Mouse into a bird, and a turtle into a giraffe. I wanted to see if I could add about three more classes next term…"

"But this is not why you are here now, is it?"

Since he was the most powerful wizard in magic history, Hermione wasn't surprised that Dumbledore had already come to this synopsis. She shook her head, "No, it isn't. Sir," she hedged around her question before she bit the bullet and said, "I went to the first floor and it looks like the girl's bathroom is flooded again. Do you know why Moaning Myrtle has decided to plug up all of the sinks and turn the faucets onto full blast today? I only ask this because…"

She shrugged and Dumbledore finished her sentence for her with a caring smile and a nod in her direction. "You only wanted to see if you could help her with whatever difficult time she may be going through?"

"Difficult time, Sir," Hermione looked at him enquiringly, "But she is only a ghost, what kind of challenges can she experience?"

"The kind that only rests within her own memories," Dumbledore went over to a glass case which looked decidedly majestic with crystal spikes spearing from the case. He reached over to open the glass door encased in gold trimming and Hermione held in her breath when she noticed the glass vials inside.

Dumbledore held up one of the vials and asked her, "Do you know what this object is Hermione?"

"Yes," excitedly Hermione interjected, "It's a vial containing a person's memory, but who does the memory belong to?"

"It belongs to Moaning Myrtle. After she had been killed, she allowed me to extract a few memories from her. It's not a very common practice to take memories from ghosts, but in this case I took my wand and pulled them from her." He took out one particular vial and glanced over at Hermione, "Would you like to take a look at it? I think you may find what you are looking for if you search within her memories."

With wide eyes Hermione retrieved the vial from Dumbledore and went over to the magical bowl and poured the silvery mist inside. Since she'd already studied how these memory vials worked she knew exactly what to do; Hermione took one look over her shoulder and watched as Dumbledore left the room. Then she dunked her head into the bowl filled with liquid mist and fell into a world of Moaning Myrtle, and her unrevealed memories.


	2. Chapter 2

She fell into Moaning Myrtle's memory quite suddenly and hit the ground hard. Hermione groaned as she stood up and looked around the world of the ghost who haunted the girls Lavatory. Myrtle had been Muggle-born which meant that both of Moaning Myrtle's parents were non-magical people. Hermione could relate to this small piece of Myrtle's history because she was also Muggle-born.

Hermione worked at the cramp in her neck when she came to a standing position from the floor of a Muggle home. The home looked as if it had all of the common essentials but Hermione didn't see any pictures of the family hanging on the walls and she didn't hear any laughter coming from any of the rooms. It appeared as if Moaning Myrtle was an only child. The living room was bare except for a gray sofa sitting in the corner. The carpet color matched the sofa and the walls were white and didn't have any adornments hanging on any of them to lighten up the area. Hermione felt the dreary environment which clung to the house like a heavy blanket and shivered.

She realized there were three people who lived in the house during the next few minutes when a younger Myrtle stepped into the living room. She had come from one of the hallway bedrooms and Hermione noticed that her pearl rimmed glasses were the only thing that sparkled in the home of the Muggle-born witch. The girl looked to be about four or five years old at the most and slightly more delicate than Hermione had remembered her. But other than her height and her more fragile younger appearance, Myrtle hadn't changed much over the years.

A woman and a man who both looked to be in there early forties entered the house suddenly and talked to each other in synchronized patterns. The woman was average in build, and she stood at about five feet seven inches. The man wore spectacles and he was about the same height as the woman with a lean physical appearance. They both held briefcases and Hermione figured they must have just come home from an office job of some sort.

It was a bit daunting when the woman walked straight through Hermione as if _she _were a ghost. The woman wasn't even fazed in the slightest as she placed her briefcase on the desk in the corner of the room and sat down dialing a number on one of the two phones in their home, and chattering to someone on the other end of the line in a business-like manner. No one in the room could see her, and when she said, "Hello," out loud they did not respond so they couldn't hear her either.

They could however see and hear Moaning Myrtle. The girl was in human form, no longer a ghost and she fidgeted with her hair as she went over to the woman and tugged on the sleeve of her blouse. "Mother, can you make me a sandwich please? It's already a few hours after dinner time and I'm getting hungry."

Her mother had dark hair much like Moaning Myrtle's and the same wide dark eyes, but she wore no spectacles. She talked into the phone and completely ignored her daughter, so Myrtle turned to her father. "Can someone please make me a sandwich? My stomach is getting hungry and it's making noises." As if on cue, Myrtle's stomach growled and she looked at her father who was on the second house phone and said, "See, did you hear that?"

He barely took a minute to say, "Not now Myrtle." Before he turned back to the person he was talking to on the other end of the line without missing a beat.

Myrtle sighed and said, "Alright then. I'll make my own sandwich. Why would anyone care enough to make something for me?"

Her father sighed with annoyance when he placed his hand over the speaker of the second phone in the house and glanced over at his daughter, "Myrtle didn't I say, not now? You need to be quiet when I'm talking on the phone can't you see how important this call is?"

Myrtle nodded mutely and opened the fridge. She made a peanut butter sandwich and sat at the kitchen table alone, picking at the bread and watching her mother work at the desk. Her father had moved out onto the patio in the back of the house and took the phone with him, pacing on the other side of the glass doors as he talked to his business associate. Myrtle sighed and said so quietly that Hermione thought she had heard her wrong when she said, "Am I always going to be invisible, everywhere I go?"

Hermione watched the five year old version of Moaning Myrtle sitting at the kitchen table and eating a meager meal alone and her heart ached for the poor girl. Did no one in her life, show any real affection for her? Hermione frowned at the idea and heard her mother speak up to the girl from across the room. Ah good, maybe someone was going to start paying attention to her after all.

Myrtle's mother set her phone aside and went through her briefcase as she looked with irritation at her daughter and said, "Are you forever going to be moaning about everything Myrtle? I can't hear myself think when you mumble to yourself constantly like you do, it's simply intolerable, all of that grumbling, and moaning. It's not natural."

The girl's mother rolled her eyes when her daughter mumbled something else under her breath that sounded like, "So I'm Moaning Myrtle now to you am I mother? I suppose that's suitable for you, but one thing you'll remember though, I'm not natural mother. I'm not a Muggle like you, I'm magical born and a witch."

Hermione didn't think her mother heard Myrtle's small declaration because the woman turned back to her briefcase and her work and paid no attention to the little girl at the kitchen table. Sighing a second time Myrtle said repetitively to herself, "I'm Moaning Myrtle now am I? Well then, so be it."

Hermione gasped as she felt the memory being completely torn from her. She spiraled and fell back into her own world with heart stopping abruptness. Falling onto the edges of the penseive Hermione took a moment to breath and said out loud, "So that's how she became Moaning Myrtle?"

Feeling sorry for the poor girl, she found herself wanting to know more about her. She supposed Dumbledore was right when he mentioned the small fact that a ghost had their own memories to worry about. It made sense. After all, a ghost had only the memories of what happened to them in their past life to keep them company, and Hermione was growing more curious about more of Moaning Myrtle's memories. She sneaked a peak over at the small group of glass vial's labeled Moaning Myrtle and saw that Dumbledore had left out a total of three of them for her inspection.

Hermione wondered what other heart wrenching experiences Myrtle had to endure during her short years of life. How many more people turned their backs to the girl and ignored her, acting as if she were invisible to them, already a ghost lurking in the shadows?

Her thoughts distracted her and Hermione turned back to the task at hand. She took the second vial and thought, one memory down, two more to go. She took a deep breath before she entered the next memory and thought, here goes nothing?


	3. Chapter 3

"Pimply, four-eyed, Moaning Myrtle," Hermione did not crash into Moaning Myrtle's next memory without being inflicted with the slightest amount of pain caused by the action. The chorus of giggles that could be heard nearby, did not help her pride in the least either.

She had fallen against one of the lockers in the hallway and scraped her cheek but soon Hermione found out that the giggles were not centered on her. Hermione reached up and touched her sore cheek gingerly before she realized that she was standing in the hallway at Hogwarts; and only a few feet away from Hermione stood a small group of girls. When she looked more closely, Hermione frowned when she saw that the girls were cornering and bullying some poor student.

"Go away, Olive!" Moaning Myrtle's chin quivered as tears threatened to spill over when she turned to face the bully in front of her, all on her own.

In Hermione's opinion, the fact that there were three girls to Moaning Myrtle's one, made the situation seem even more barbaric. She wanted to step forward and help but she knew they wouldn't be able to see, or hear her. Hermione tried anyway and said, "Get away from her! Stop!" But the objections went unnoticed.

For all hopes of appearances, Hermione could have been a fly on the wall for all the good it did. This was perhaps one side effect of the memory vial that did not please Hermione in the least. So she stood by and watched as Moaning Myrtle faced down her biggest nemesis; Olive Hornby. The girl was popular with the student's at Hogwarts unlike Myrtle, and she was also quite talented when it came to manipulating poor Myrtle.

Hermione saw that Olive thrived on her talent and found pleasure in hurting Myrtle verbally and more often than not, she bullied her until she ran off and cried.

Olive faced Myrtle and said tauntingly, "You're ugly with those big clunky glasses and you're probably blind without them too!" She turned to the two giggling girls beside her and said, "Hey girls, should we find out if Moaning Myrtle can see without her horrible glasses?"

The girls beside the bully cheered and chorused in a sing-song voice, "Pimply, four-eyed, Moaning Myrtle." While they chanted, Olive reached over and quickly shoved Myrtle, knocking her down against the lockers. Then, before she could come to a standing position, Olive snatched her glasses from Myrtle's face and taunted her with them. Waving the glasses in the air, Olive grinned and gloated while the girls continued to call Myrtle names.

Myrtle made a valiant jump for her glasses that fell short of its target, when Hermione heard someone say from directly behind them. "Hey Olive, leave her alone why don't you?"

Olive turned to see who Myrtle's defender was and said, "Charlus Potter, this isn't any of your concern."

Hermione was surprised to see a younger version of Harry striding purposefully toward the girls. He was alone, and looked as if he'd been on his way to class when he saw all of the commotion in the hallway and decided to intervene.

Good, thought Hermione, at least someone was taking an interest in Myrtle's life. The fact that it was Harry's grandfather was a bit of a shock for Hermione, though she stored away this small piece of information, nonetheless.

"It might not be any of my business, "said Harry's grandfather as he looked over Olive's shoulder and further down the hall when he added. "But it might be Professor Dumbledore's."

Hermione glanced behind her to see that the Professor was standing with his back turned to the students but he was in the hallway and within hearing distance; as if he had sensed their gazes he turned his attention to the students. Harry's grandfather waved at him and he nodded back in pure Dumbledore fashion. His eyes moved from Harry's grandfather to Olive and her two cronies, and then his eyes narrowed before he turned his back on the students in order to talk to another teacher.

Hermione saw a relative of Professor Sprout's appear at Professor Dumbledore's side. Hermione thought she might be a relative of the teacher's because she looked a lot like Professor Sprout. She held a pouting baby Mandrake in her hands. The Mandrake gave a nasty sounding groan that had all of the students in the hallway covering their ears. Then she heard Dumbledore exclaim loudly, "Take care of it professor. I do not know what to do with such a—creature, but I can send someone over to help you with the poor thing. Sick is he? Let's see about that."

Dumbledore went to soothe the wailing creature when all of a sudden, the Mandrake's eyes bulged out of their sockets and the creature spewed a green and yellow gooey substance from its mouth. The vomit shot out and hit Dumbledore right in the face and he cried out with surprise.

Hermione winced at the unfortunate scene taking place and turned away from the Professor's when she heard a commotion behind her.

Olive and her two friends were snickering at Professor Dumbledore's dilemma. They continued to watch with spreading smiles on their faces as Professor Dumbledore, the Herbology Professor, and the squalling baby Mandrake departed from the room.

Then Olive faced Myrtle and glared with an evil smile at her as she said, "Alright have it your way, here are your glasses." She started to hand them over to Moaning Myrtle but exactly two seconds before Myrtle's fingers could connect with them the glasses slid from Olive's fingers and fell to the floor with a resounding crack.

Olive's smile was one of pure pleasure, and even though she knew they couldn't hear her Hermione said angrily, "You vindictive creature, how could you?" She wished they could see her so she could land a solid punch straight into Olive's smug face.

Myrtle wailed and mourned over her valuable possession while Olive and her two friends laughed as they walked away.

Harry's grandfather picked up the pearl rimmed glasses which had been permanently scratched from Olive's intentional gesture. Charlus handed Myrtle her glasses and said apologetically, "I'm sorry. I don't know the spell used for repairing your spectacles or I would fix them, but here you go."

Hermione sighed with a grudging familiarity and said out loud to Charlus, "The spell is Oculus Reparo; you and your grandson are a lot alike, you know."

Myrtle took the glasses from Charlus and barely squeaked out a small, "thank you." Before she took a mad dash in the opposite direction and sobbed loudly as she ran away.


	4. Chapter 4

"Oculus Reparo," Hermione watched as Myrtle fixed her own glasses while she walked down the hall alone to head toward her next class.

Hermione had entered Myrtle's third memory a little more gracefully than she had the past two. At least this time, she had landed on her feet without hitting the floor, or scraping her cheek on a student's desk.

Following Myrtle down the hall at Hogwarts was not exactly an easy task. Myrtle liked to sing to herself and she constantly turned directions in the hallway as if she were trying to change her mind about where she was headed.

Myrtle's voice had a surprisingly pretty quality to it and Hermione found herself listening avidly to the words, _"Double, double, toil and trouble. Something wicked this way comes…Something wicked this way comes…"_

Hermione felt the thin hairs on the back of her neck stand on end when she looked forward and spotted Olive heading down the hallway from the opposite direction.

Hearing Moaning Myrtle's gasp of fear, Hermione realized she'd spotted Olive as well. Turning hastily in order to avoid Olive, Moaning Myrtle made a quick escape into the girl's Lavatory on the second floor.

The meaning of the last part of the eerie song that Myrtle had just been singing hit home for Hermione. When she watched Moaning Myrtle enter the girl's bathroom, she suddenly knew the reason why she'd felt such fear. Moaning Myrtle had escaped the clutches of her enemy Olive Hornby, but Olive wasn't exactly the wicked nemesis Hermione was worried about.

She felt the nausea in her stomach rise up in her throat at the terrible thought as she realized that Moaning Myrtle was about to die and Hermione was going to be there to see it.

After Myrtle had eluded Olive Hornby and disappeared into the girl's Lavatory, Hermione had grudgingly followed her. Then something unexpected happened.

When Myrtle went into one of the old stalls to cry, Hermione felt an invisible pull that controlled her movements and urged her to stand next to her friend in the stall. When Hermione tried to take a couple of steps away from her sobbing friend, a magical force stopped her from completing the task. She suspected that Dumbledore might have cast a magical spell which kept Hermione from moving away from Moaning Myrtle. Protection from harm was the only reason why Hermione thought Dumbledore would place any kind of barrier around her. Hermione wasn't certain, but maybe _he who must not be named_ could actually hurt an innocent witness in someone else's memory. Either way, Hermione was grateful for the supportive spell.

Myrtle reached over and locked the stall door and sat down on the closed lid of the toilet and began to cry again. Hermione looked with sympathy at the poor girl and wondered why no one had thought to befriend her? Maybe if someone had ventured to do so, then Myrtle could have been spared such a terrible fate?

Raspy words were spoken not a few moments later, on the other side of the bathroom stall and Hermione thought their words might be in Parslemouth, Snake language. It was unusual for Hermione not to be able to interpret something, but the words of the snake language she could not understand.

The voices continued to speak in raspy undertones and Hermione heard Myrtle gasp when she realized that she was not alone. Moaning Myrtle reached over to unlock the door and started to speak when the Basilisk stopped her. A pair of yellow eyes stared at Moaning Myrtle and Moaning Myrtle stared back with fright.

Standing behind the magical barrier which prevented Hermione from being consumed by the creature's wicked power. She watched with horror as Moaning Myrtle shivered uncontrollably. Myrtle stared at the creature and her body seized, suddenly frozen solid.

Then Moaning Myrtle's body floated in mid-air as if she was being controlled by someone, and she landed just outside the door of the open stall.

Hermione was only afforded a few steps and she took them hesitantly. Moving toward Moaning Myrtle, Hermione felt Dumbledore's protective magic surround her as she gazed upon the one who was feared by all in the magical realm.

Tom Riddle gazed down at Moaning Myrtle with unfeeling eyes and muttered darkly, "Filthy Mudblood."

Hermione watched the scene and she cringed inwardly as Tom Riddle prepared to take from Moaning Myrtle, what would be the first of his seven horcruxes to come.


	5. Chapter 5

Holding her breath, Hermione looked at Moaning Myrtle's dead body still suspended in mid-air and felt helpless for not being able to do anything to help her.

A big glob of crimson blood oozed down from the side of Myrtle's left eye and Hermione shuddered when the Basilisk reached over and licked the trailing fluids away. The long forked tongue of the creature slithered back into its mouth and Hermione heard Tom Riddle chuckle with pleasure at the sight.

Clicking his own tongue in a chastising way, Tom Riddle said to the Basilisk, "Now, now. You know this one is mine, don't you?"

The Basilisk moved around Moaning Myrtle's suspended form until its large predatory body nearly engulfed her, but the creature bowed its head to Tom Riddle as if he were its master; and maybe he was. Hermione watched as Tom Riddle reached for Moaning Myrtle's body and used his wand to cut into the girl's arm. Carving through the innocent girl's flesh he used his wand as if it were a sharp edged dagger.

Myrtle's arm lay mangled in the air and was limp as a rag doll, and Hermione flinched as she watched the dark wizard proceed. Tom Riddle urged the Basilisk forward then controlled the creature by murmuring a mysterious spell whispered in the same mouth as Parseltongue language.

The Basilisk moved its beastly face forward and bared its large razor sharp teeth to Moaning Myrtle's still form. Then, as Hermione gasped in terror the creature sank its teeth into Myrtle's already wounded arm and drew out more blood. The blood gathered by the snake, and the blood gained by Tom Riddle's wand were mixed together in order to form the first horcrux; Voldemort's diary.

Hermione stayed with Moaning Myrtle weeping for the girl long after Tom Riddle and the Basilisk left. She had watched, without being able to help, as Tom Riddle opened the Chamber of Secrets; and Hermione knew with a sinking feeling that they were both down in the dungeons below Hogwarts by now.

Feeling helpless that she couldn't have prevented Moaning Myrtle's cruel demise, Hermione continued to cry silently for the girl even while Myrtle's spirit rose up from her body. Looking at the ghost who stood before her, Hermione realized that this was the familiar form of the girl Hermione thought she had known.

"What is this? What has happened?" Hermione knew Moaning Myrtle couldn't see her when the ghost floated straight through her and approached her own body with no small amount of fear and trepidation.

Myrtle's ghost gazed down at her lifeless body lying on the bathroom floor and she began to sob loudly as recognition hit her with an unfair and forceful blow.

"I'm dead," Myrtle's ghost choked out the statement miserably. She continued to look at her still form on the ground and asked, "How could I be dead?"

Unaware of Hermione standing next to her, Myrtle moved through her again. Shivering at the odd sensation, Hermione struggled to breathe and needed to move away from Moaning Myrtle for only a few minutes. She walked toward the slightly opened window in the bathroom and could hear Moaning Myrtle crying softly behind her as she moved away.

In the beginning, Harry had asked Hermione for a favor and Hermione had agreed to help him with his problem because she was his friend. She had no way of knowing then, how it would be to step into the memories of Moaning Myrtle. How could she have known? Hermione took a few deep breaths of fresh air from the open window and felt the calming breeze sooth her as she thought about all she had seen.

Myrtle's life had been disheartening to view from Hermione's perspective, and Hermione had been surprised to find out that there had been more to Moaning Myrtle than she had first expected. Myrtle had wanted to escape the loneliness that threatened to consume her each monotonous day, but Hermione suspected that she had never learned how to do so

Hermione had also discovered that Myrtle had taken care of herself since her parents would not. She had also struggled with defending herself against intimidating bullies like Olive Hornby and her friends. So, there was more strength in Moaning Myrtle than Hermione would have guessed.

Hermione had even started to think of Myrtle as something akin to a friend; but her death...had been even more grueling and Hermione could not escape the evil horror of what she'd only recently witnessed. All she could do, was view the experience as it was; a cruel act of murder on an innocent young person's life. Now it was time for Hermione to move on to the next phase in Myrtle's memory; her life after death.

Hermione wondered, how many more missing pieces she would uncover from the girl sitting next to her still form; and how long would it take before someone discovered that the girl who was now a ghost, was lost?


	6. Chapter 6

Olive Hornby shrieked when she came across the dead body in the girl's Lavatory, but in the next minute when she recognized who the dead girl was she sneered at the corpse and said, "You were a disgusting little mudblood anyway. So, who was the lucky one who got to _off_ you?"

Stepping forward Olive noticed the basilisk's bite mark on Myrtle's arm and smiled, "Ah so the beast finally made itself known? That is good news, isn't it now?"

Olive tilted her head as she glanced down at Myrtle's body and noticed that her open eyes had frozen with a mixture of both fright and horror. The pearl rimmed glasses Olive hated so much sat perched on top of the dead body's nose. Olive made a small noise of disgust and reached over to grab a hold of the glasses.

Hermione could feel Olive's cold gaze zoom in on Moaning Myrtle's body even from where she stood. Hermione had witnessed Myrtle's murder and then had stuck around to see that the dead girl had not had any visitor's in the past two hours since the terrible incident had occurred.

Moaning Myrtle's ghostly form was currently huddled within the security of one of the stalls nearby and Hermione had not heard a sound from the ghost since Olive had appeared.

Now, Moaning Myrtle's stubborn bully held Myrtle's pearl rimmed glasses in her hands and turned her head to Moaning Myrtle's body once more. Without pausing even a second for a self-deprecating moment, Olive spit directly into Moaning Myrtle's face.

A fresh line of saliva fell down the corpse's face and Hermione wished suddenly that her anger could appear visible to the others in the room. But as it was however, even if Hermione wished to land a solid punch on Olive's smug little face she couldn't. Part of the memory vials stipulations prevented her from acting on anything except being a casual observer to parts of Moaning Myrtle's past.

Hermione continued to watch as Olive shook her head at the glasses she held in her hands. Olive wrapped her fingers around the pearls that edged Myrtle's glasses and without hesitating she twisted the metal frames. Now the glasses had been broken beyond repair and the sound of a cracked prized possession must have finally reached Myrtle's ghostly senses.

Hermione heard a faint rustling sound from one of the stalls behind her and she stepped back as Moaning Myrtle's ghostly form exited the small space.

Myrtle's ghost accelerated as she flew over the side of the bathroom stall and as she approached Olive Hornby she cried out, _"How dare you shatter my glasses?"_

Myrtle moaned as Olive's eyes widened and Hermione saw with a bit of satisfaction, that Olive looked horrified to see Myrtle's ghost appear in front of her. _"They were my only pair, how could you do such a thing?" _

Even though the ghostly form of Myrtle's glasses still lay perched on top of her nose she still fumed angrily at Olive Hornby and lost her temper like she never had before. _"You wretched girl,"_ she swore vehemently beneath her breath and then Moaning Myrtle's temper peaked when she glanced down to see the small drop of spit falling from her physical body's lifeless form. _"You dared to spit on me you evil creature? I will certainly make you pay for that and for all the times you made fun of me!"_

Moaning Myrtle's ghost rose up from slightly hovering on the ground until she zoomed in on Olive's face, up close and personal. Hermione realized that Olive was so scared she couldn't move, and she didn't flinch even when Moaning Myrtle landed a punch without impact straight through her horrible nemesis.

Olive had only started to gather her wits back when Myrtle's ghost began to wail at her and chase her around the room. Hermione couldn't help but punch her fist into the air with triumph for her friend.

Myrtle had finally made an aggressive attempt to defend herself from a bully who had done nothing but torment her for years; and it was about time she'd done something about the wretched girl!

When Moaning Myrtle's ghost came back into the Lavatory she was smiling with pure glee and even though she knew Myrtle couldn't see her, Hermione smiled in return. Her uneasy feeling came only when she heard Myrtle's ghost murmur quietly, _"She'll be sorry for all the times she's ever made fun of me. Olive Hornby is going to regret ever meeting Moaning Myrtle."_

Hermione heard the ghost's words and wondered what Myrtle had planned for Olive, and then she suddenly knew that the third memory of the ghost who haunted the girl's Lavatory wasn't quite finished; and Hermione was afraid that she hadn't seen the last of the vindictive bully, namely Olive Hornby either.

_**Author's note:**__ I still have more chapters for the story, so let me know what you think of this chapter and what you'd like to see happen to Olive in the future. Thank you all for your comments; I hope you have a great week._


	7. Chapter 7

The shattered pearl rimmed glasses lay directly across from Olive Hornby's bed in the girl's dormitory. The glasses sat on the nightstand and Olive looked at them with a satisfied gleam in her eyes as if they were some glorified trophy she'd won in a battle.

Except Hermione knew the glasses weren't won during any magically scarred battle, they were stolen from a mangled corpse in the girl's Lavatory and the pair of glasses weren't supposed to be in the girl's sleeping quarters they belonged to Moaning Myrtle.

The half-smile of smugness Olive sent to the prized possession perched on her nightstand made Hermione instinctively clench her fists. She watched as Olive chuckled to herself probably thinking about when she'd spit on Moaning Myrtle's dead body only two days before. Hermione glared at the girl and watched with a half-smile of her own as Moaning Myrtle's ghost popped up directly beside Olive's bed.

Myrtle's expression was of angry vehemence as she shouted at the girl, _"You still have my glasses? How dare you keep them?" _

Olive's face froze with shock as she scrambled up in her bed and threw her covers off as if a jar of spiders had suddenly been set loose inside the blankets. Olive wore a plane flannel nightgown and had comfortable socks to protect her feet warm from the cold evenings.

She hadn't seen Myrtle since the bathroom incident when Myrtle's ghost drove her from the room screaming, but now here she was…and Olive noted with no small amount of fear that the ghost looked seriously pissed.

_"I told you to leave them in the Lavatory when I followed you out into the hall, didn't I?"_

Olive knelt on the bed and kept backing up while Moaning Myrtle honed in on her. Myrtle followed her every move as she screamed, _"Why didn't you do what I told you to and leave my glasses where they belonged?"_

Olive kept scooting backward on the bed and finally knocked over the small glass of water she'd placed on the nightstand beside Myrtle's stolen object. When the glass suddenly tipped over, the water spilled down the front of Olive's flannel nightgown and Moaning Myrtle's expression changed almost instantly.

Her face lit up with delight as she pointed at Olive and trilled, _"Look at that, you couldn't make it to the Lavatory on time, could you Olive? You went inside your nightgown instead!"_

Olive's face contorted angrily as she burst out, "You saw what happened, and it was an accident! Why won't you just leave me the bloody well alone? You're nothing but a creepy ugly ghost anyway, you filthy Mudblood!"

Myrtle's ghostly features were still glowing with mirth as she said with a smile, _"It's not my fault that you can't hold it in Olive, don't blame me for your little accidents."_

"I didn't wet my nightgown you no disgusting creature, I spilled the water down the front of my gown! You saw it yourself as plain as day!" Olive fumed angrily while Hermione could hear some of the other girl's stirring in their separate compartments.

When some of the students peeked into Olive's compartment they saw her damp nightgown before they even noticed Moaning Myrtle's hovering figure. Some of them covered their mouths and giggled as they pointed at Olive, and one girl from Ravenclaw spoke up and said with a gasp, "Olive you really should have made a run for the Lavatory if you needed to take a pee so badly!"

When several of the girls around her giggled, Olive reached over to her nightstand and threw Moaning Myrtle's shattered glasses straight at them. When the students heard Myrtle begin to whimper as the glasses lay crumpled on the floor behind them, the girls all gazed from Moaning Myrtle's ghostly form to look at Olive with accusing stares.

Hermione smiled with satisfaction and watched as one of the girls from the second year class said angrily, "You broke the dead girl's glasses without even blinking an eye, how could you Olive?"

"You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Several more girls spoke up in defense of Moaning Myrtle, but Myrtle did not hear them. Hermione looked around the room and heard a far off echo. It sounded like the noise was just outside the door and Hermione realized that Myrtle had already left the scene without looking back.

The next day, Hermione caught Myrtle exploring the Great Hall and saw Olive sitting at one of the tables with the three friends who used to bully her surrounding her on all sides. They were finishing up their mealtime when Olive spotted Moaning Myrtle's figure floating nearby. The girl's beside her sneered at Myrtle's ghost having heard of the _accident_ with the water spilling from the night before and the teasing that Olive had endured afterward. They didn't care for Myrtle when she'd been alive, but now they loathed her with steady determination.

"She was nothing but a disgusting excuse for a Hogwarts student anyway," said one of the three girls speaking loud enough for Myrtle to hear.

"I'm glad she's dead," said another who sat beside Olive and glanced at her friend with a nod. "She was ugly with her face covered with pimples and those awful glasses!"

The girl's laughed and when they stood to leave the table, something happened that made Hermione's eyes widen with surprise. Myrtle came to approach the girl's and Olive frowned at her, "How dare you approach us you dreadful little mudblood! You're more obnoxious dead, than you were alive, if that is even possible!"

The two girls beside Olive chortled in response but Myrtle said nothing. Instead, Hermione watched as one of the bowls filled with chocolate pudding suddenly launched from the table and flew across the empty space.

"_Ahhh! You wretched beastly creature!"_

Hermione laughed outright when she looked over and saw that Olive's face was covered with messy gooey chocolate. She grinned when one of Olive's friends reached over and ran her finger across Olive's forehead to swipe at some of the dessert. Tasting the chocolate pudding the girl beside Olive nodded and said, "It's really not that bad Olive if you want to taste it." The girl said the last few words rather slowly when she caught sight of Olive's expression of outrage.

_"Ugh, I hate you Moaning Myrtle!"_

Hermione chuckled along with Moaning Myrtle as Olive Hornby ran from the room screaming down the house with a full blown tantrum of anger in progress. Yes, Hermione thought with a wicked smile, retribution might be awfully sweet in the greater scheme of things but it wasn't lasting.

While Hermione glanced over at Myrtle she heard the ghost whisper fiercely, _"And it isn't over yet Olive Hornby…this is only the beginning to remind you of all the times you have been mean to me. Even in death, you have tormented me so now it is my turn."_


	8. Chapter 8

Myrtle stood in front of the Ministry of Magic because she was being evaluated for harassing Olive Hornby. Hermione thought it was idiotic and uncalled for since Olive was an evil little cockroach and deserved everything she got. On top of this, Hermione knew what had actually occurred after the chocolate pudding incident with Olive because she had been there.

When Olive stormed out of the Great Hall with pudding still dripping from her chin, Hermione thought she looked angry enough to explode. She wondered what the girl was up to, and so she followed her. Surprised that she could leave Myrtle's side for a while, Hermione took a few moments to watch as Olive glanced from side to side. She sneaked past a couple of Prefects on her way to the girl's dormitory and Hermione was only a few steps behind her.

Looking from side to side, Olive made sure no one was paying any attention to her before she made a break for it and entered the Ravenclaw's sleeping quarters. To say the least, Hermione knew Olive was up to something and she wanted to be there to see it so she made her way over to the girl's sleeping quarters as well.

Olive had started pacing and mumbling angry words beneath her breath as she walked back and forth inside the room where the girl's slept at night. There were compartments for each girl and each compartment had a twin sized bed, a nightstand beside the bed, and a curtain in front of the compartment for privacy. The curtain which Olive glanced toward now was the one that had belonged to Moaning Myrtle when she'd been alive.

Olive smiled to herself as she examined the room to make certain no one was there before she moved slowly over to Myrtle's old compartment. Hermione's eyes narrowed but she went over to see what Olive was up to as they both peered behind Myrtle's curtain. Moaning Myrtle's sleeping compartment still contained a few of Myrtle's personal affects. A framed photo sat on the nightstand directly across from Myrtle's bed and within the picture Myrtle's parents stood smiling for the camera and holding a very young Myrtle in their arms. Hermione was surprised to see this picture since she hadn't seen any in Myrtle's house but the fact that there was at least one photo warmed Hermione.

Smelling the fresh homey scent of honey in the air, Hermione glanced up to see a candle hanging in the air above the nightstand. It appeared as if Myrtle had cast a lingering spell on the burning candle which made it suspend in mid-air even after her death.

On the opposite side of Myrtle's bed Hermione saw a poster of something that surprised her. The lighthouse was located on a Muggle beach somewhere across the Pacific Ocean and the waves crashing onto the beach moved steadily in the poster. Hermione started when she noticed Olive drawing Myrtle's curtain back further as she entered the compartment.

Noticing the burning candle for the first time Olive's eyes, which still sported some pudding on the tips of her lashes, just landed on the floating candle. She smiled and muttered something unintelligible to herself before she crossed over to Myrtle's bed and stood on the drab woolen blankets which still covered it.

Olive climbed on the bed and stretched upward to retrieve the burning candle in her indelicate hands. Once she had a firm grip on the candle Hermione caught her sneering as she said, "Woops!"

After climbing down from the bed, Olive made a show of holding the candle gently over the bed so that the flames barely licked at Myrtle's bed covers. Then she took the candle and lit the family framed picture on fire. Standing back, Olive surveyed her work and frowned, "Not good enough, she deserves everything I give her and more."

Olive stepped out of the burning compartment and Hermione watched as the conflagration started spreading from the picture frame to the nightstand and from the blankets to the bed. Within a few moments, the sleeping compartment that had once belonged to Moaning Myrtle would be a veritable bonfire.

"I never did like these curtains anyway," concluded Olive as she sneered at the offending object leading into Myrtle's personal space.

Lighting the curtains on fire, Olive used the last of the flickering flames from the candle to burn the curtains down along with everything else Myrtle had ever been given while she'd stayed at Hogwarts.

Chuckling to herself, Hermione fumed angrily as Olive tossed the candle into the burning pile and left the room without anyone seeing her departure. Hermione's heart wrenched and her blood broiled as she saw Olive leave the girls sleeping quarters without being spotted by anyone alive. The only one who saw Olive leave the room was the ghost coming forward to survey the area.

_"No one else saw her!"_

Hermione's heart fell as she shook her head at the injustice of it all. Moaning Myrtle moved forward and witnessed the burning of her sleeping compartment as she wailed, _"My family photo, and the lighthouse, everything all gone?"_

"_Irreplaceable?"_ Myrtle sniffled before she changed her tone and directed her anger at the empty space where the girl had exited. _"Olive Hornby you'd better look after yourself! You'd better watch behind your back wherever you go, because I will be there. Watch where you go Olive, and look for it!"_


	9. Chapter 9

The dress Olive wore to her brother's wedding was hideous. Hermione grinned at the thought of Olive having to wear the ugly puce colored, extremely outdated evening gown. Hermione heard a chuckle filled with mirth from close by and she glanced over to see Moaning Myrtle sliding into the dressing room. At the look of delight on Myrtle's face when she saw Olive in the ugly dress Hermione knew she obviously wasn't the only one who thought the dress was dreadful.

The day after Olive burnt down Myrtle's possessions the conniving girl packed her bags and went to stay with her brother in London. Everyone attending the ceremony had located to a sprawling mansion located on the edge of the city for the indoor event.

The estate belonged to Olive Hornby's older brother and after listening to a conversation between two older Muggles a couple of hours earlier, Hermione felt uneasy over what she had heard.

One lady wore a black wide brimmed hat and an orange flowery dress while the woman's friend wore a puff tented dress which was anything but flattering. The friend also had a wide brimmed hat but this one was edged with lace and yellow in color. The two elderly women looked as if they were in the mood to gossip and normally Hermione wouldn't care to listen. But since she heard the Hornby's name mentioned she thought she might get some viable information from the conversation so she clued in.

"_You know I found out that Mrs. Hornby has certain ties with the Wizarding world," the friend was saying._

_ The chubby lady with the black wide brimmed hat made an expression of surprise as she said to her friend, "I thought they might be into all of that magical nonsense but I wasn't certain. How did you find out about Mrs. Hornby?"_

"_Well a friend of mine knows Mrs. Hornby and I am actually attending this wedding today to support my dear friend. This friend of mine used to come and visit me and kept me company when we were neighbors a several years ago. But she said that Mrs. Hornby has some inner connections in the Wizarding world and I should befriend the woman so I could share the benefits of these connections just in case of-"_

_ "In case of what, exactly?" The chubby lady with the black wide brimmed hat was still wide eyed and listening to her friends every word; at this point, Hermione was doing the same._

"_Well," the friend shrugged and brushed off the dramatics of the conversation with a disregarding sniff as she said, "never mind. I'm sure I won't need to get mixed up with any of that magical stuff anyway."_

_ "Oh, not at all," the lady nodded agreeably. She added on a second note, "However you might want to take your friends advice and get to know this Mrs. Hornby since you never know if you need to get bailed out of a messy magical situation."_

"_True," acknowledged the lady with another nod and a grim smile. She added somewhat disheartened at the thought, "Though I despise making new friends, I'm not certain I'll need to find a way to get to know this particular woman in order to get the connections in the Wizarding world I am looking for."_

_ "Why won't you need to make friends with Mrs. Hornby, Lucinda?"_

"_Why?" the lady with the black wide brimmed hat named Lucinda tossed a knowing look to her friend, "Because I already know the daughter, Olive Hornby, that's why. She is the friend I am showing my support for, today."_

Hermione did not need to listen to the rest of the conversation since she'd heard enough. She looked over her shoulder to see that Moaning Myrtle had vacated the dressing room and she'd abandoned an oblivious Olive as well. It seemed that Olive could only see Myrtle's ghostly form whenever Myrtle _wanted_ Olive to see her, and not until then.

Moaning Myrtle had made herself appear invisible to Olive Hornby and all others. Hermione asked the curious question out loud even though she knew nobody could possibly hear her, "Why would Myrtle want to appear invisible?" And then a second thought came to Hermione and she added, "What could she possibly gain from not being seen by anyone?" Hermione sighed and felt like she was about to find out the reason for Myrtle's mysterious actions very soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Hermione suspected the ceremony for Olive's brother went as planned with nothing out of the ordinary happening…until they moved everyone into the old fashioned ball room which was decorated elegantly for the occasion.

Crystal made Chandeliers created by very particular artists hung from the ceiling of the room and the walls were draped with white silk curtains. There was a serving area where they'd set out a variety of refreshments on the buffet table and candles hung from magically suspended glass vases. It looked as if Olive wasn't the only one in her family who was magically inclined. The marble floors were gray mixed with white and they glimmered in the dimly lit room while the orchestra on the stage performed Classical music. Hermione recognized the ballad being played and listened to the comforting song by Ponchielle called Dance of the hours

While the bride and the groom smiled at each other as they took the lead in the dancing everyone else fell into place. Humming to herself and leaning against the wall of the ballroom, Olive was busy stuffing her face with pastries and other gooey desserts from the refreshment table. She had only just popped a mini chocolate covered éclair into her mouth when she unexpectedly felt a trickle of something wet splash against her neck.

She placed her hand against the wetness and her fingers came back dampened. Olive glared at the elderly man standing close beside her who looked puzzled at Olive's angry expression and walked away. Olive rolled her eyes and cursed the strange man thinking that he might have spit on her neck purely for sport. Licking the sticky substance of the dessert from her fingers Olive paused when she felt something wet trickling down the back of her hair not two minutes later.

"Olive?" Distractedly she turned her head to look at the elderly woman who approached her and when she caught sight of the woman, Olive didn't bother groaning inwardly.

"Lucinda Fanghorn what are you doing here? I didn't know my mother had extended an invitation for you?" Or Olive might have thought of some excuse to avoid the elderly woman. Lucinda was an old busybody who did nothing but bore Olive to tears with her stories of other people's lives. Olive's mother had made her visit the older woman when she was younger to keep her company but Olive had always dreaded going over to Lucinda's house because it smelled like rotting sewage and aged flesh; but her mother had been adamant about Olive visiting the older woman…and Olive had finally succumbed to her mother's persuasions.

"Yes my dear, your mother was kind enough to send me an invitation and I dare say the wedding turned out to be quite beautiful, didn't it?" The older woman practically gushed with unbridled enthusiasm as she went on speaking to Olive without waiting for a response to her question. "My dear, is there something troubling you right now, you seem-a bit-um-distracted?"

Olive kept feeling a trickle of wet liquid fall down the back of her coiffure styled hair and it felt as if someone were pouring water from some place directly above her. Olive glanced up at the ceiling and saw only the white drapes sparkling against the light from the candles and the gleam from the crystal chandeliers but otherwise everything else remained ordinary, and even passive.

Something happened however which made Olive and the elderly woman beside her glance up once again. Olive shivered as she looked up to see a stream of water cascade down from above her seemingly coming from out of nowhere. The water hovered above her head and hit Olive with a full force and drenched her without so much as touching Lucinda or any of the other guests or possessions at the wedding. The gushing waterfall above her only touched Olive and didn't disturb anything or anyone else at the wedding.

"What the—" Lucinda backed away from Olive and looked at her as if she were seeing a ghost. Olive screeched at the top of her lungs and the Orchestra paused with their music for only a minute as she ran from the room gasping with fright. The trail of water drenched Olive and the liquid continued to fall in rivulets which clung to her as she left.

Hermione followed Olive from the room and several guests looked at the girl with a mixture of horror and confusion stamped on their faces as they saw the water falling from an invisible barrier above her. It really made quite the picture, and Hermione burst out laughing as she watched Olive dash straight down the hall. She realized the girl's intentions of hoping to escape the puzzling dilemma which followed her when Olive moved directly for the nearest bathroom. Myrtle had outdone herself Hermione thought and felt suddenly as if this was only the beginning.

Miss Lucinda Fanghorn came running down the hall as fast as her chubby legs could carry her and she went in pursuit of Olive who had reached the girl's bathroom by now. Hermione didn't need to wonder what else Moaning Myrtle had in store for Olive when she watched the girl place her hand on the knob of the bathroom door.

"Uh-oh," Hermione gasped out loud even though she knew no one could hear her. She couldn't help it…she knew that Myrtle had been up to something when she had checked the bathroom earlier to make certain no one was occupying any of the stalls within.

During the moment when Olive turned the knob Hermione's eyebrows shot up to her hairline with widened shock as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. Olive twisted her wrist around the handle of the door and jerked it open but screamed as if someone had truly terrified her when a wall of water came crashing down upon her. The water had been placed under a magical spell. Hermione knew this to be a fact because she had watched the ghost place the spell in the bathroom and the water obeyed only Moaning Myrtle's command.

Hermione saw the ghost appear beside her as she stood safely in the entrance leading to the ballroom. The water engulfed only Olive, and Hermione had to grin because she knew the girl was safe from any physical danger. Because of the magical spell placed over the water the liquid would not harm any belongings of Olive's brother either, and it would not drown Olive; it would merely frighten her half to death and Hermione thought the girl deserved every horrified scream she produced.

The wall of water spread through the hall as swiftly as the destructive fire had disintegrated all of Myrtle's Hogwarts possessions. It carried Olive who sat on the top of the tallest wave as she screamed loud enough to bring down the entire house. On this point though, nothing was harmed as in the case of the fire, and Olive would not sport any heart aches from any losses like Myrtle felt. She would indeed be seriously pissed off but for now, Hermione thought that retribution was fine indeed.

Moaning Myrtle seemed to relish the happenings as she viewed the scene from the side of the hallway. Chuckling with delight Hermione thought Myrtle's laugh sounded more like a cackle of pure glee than a laugh of any other kind. With a broad smile to cover her worry for what might lie ahead of Moaning Myrtle, Hermione took a moment and stood back.

She leaned against the wall and with Moaning Myrtle, Hermione laughed with great amusement as she enjoyed the view. When the wall of water carrying Olive Hornby stopped at the end of the hallway, Olive was jerked back and forth among the jumpy waves. Her arms flailed and her feet stuck up as her head became submerged beneath the pool of liquid. Hermione's laughter soon faded however, when she caught sight of someone else being carried in the water along with Myrtle's nemesis.

"Olive," Shrieked Miss Lucinda Fanghorn, "Olive what is happening to us?"

"Lucinda, don't just sit there gawking, help me!" Unsurprisingly it appeared that Olive's only concern upon seeing the elderly woman floating among the tossing waves beside her was for herself; but the woman beside her had her own concerns.

It seemed as if the magical spell had produced a momentary glitch and accidentally caught up not only Olive but Miss Lucinda Fanghorn as well. Another crashing wave proceeded to engulf Miss Lucinda Fanghorn and as soon as Hermione realized that Moaning Myrtle had caught sight of the woman dangling about the water waves in the hallway she gasped. Pausing for only a second to enjoy Olive's harmless battle in the water, Myrtle watched the girl gulp down more water and saw that Olive grew more spastic in the liquid body surrounding her…and this was the moment when Moaning Myrtle called a halt to her spell entirely.

During the next second when she put a stop to the fiasco before her, the water vanished from the room…and the hallway remained purely as it had been before dry and undamaged. The only thing Hermione thought was different now, was the fact that Olive and Miss Lucinda Fanghorn stood dripping at the end of the hall in there unfashionable dresses and looked like a veritable bunch of drowned snappy poodles.

Hermione winced when Olive looked directly over at her and thought for an excruciating moment that the girl could _see_ her…but Olive wasn't looking at Hermione. She was gazing at Moaning Myrtle who was visible now, floating in the air above Hermione and biting her lip nervously as Olive's face caught sight of her and turned red with pent up rage.


	11. Chapter 11

"Disciplinary hearing of the tenth of June 1943 is now in session. Due to an unmitigated act on the accuser's side namely, erm-" The Minister cleared her throat as she looked at her papers on her stand before she said, "Moaning Myrtle—the defendant Olive Hornby and a witness to the crime may proceed to step forward."

Olive Hornby and Miss Lucinda Fanghorn both stepped forward while the Minister made her summary of the case known. Lucinda was asked if she had anything to say on the matter to Moaning Myrtle, the accused. The angry expression on the elderly woman's face was clear enough for Hermione to see that things were not going to bode well for Moaning Myrtle. "_She used her magic to nearly drown me with a tidal wave of water running through the halls of her brother's wedding! The outrageous act should be accounted for,"_ Miss Lucinda practically screamed at the top of her lungs as she glanced with hatred over at Myrtle and cried out, _"I want to see some discipline for her ruining one of my finest dresses!"_

"Very well Miss Fanghorn you may step down now."

Hermione took a minute to glance over at the ghost and saw that Moaning Myrtle looked positively ill standing in front of the Ministry of Magic waiting for the evaluation of her actions to be confirmed. Hermione watched as Ottaline Gambol the head Minister sat at the podium with her dress robes hanging loosely around her skinny arms. She had spent the better point of an hour relaying the events of Myrtle's recent activities and looked worn and ready to retire from her efforts.

The head Minister's gavel thumped loudly on her desk without anyone extending a hand to help it along. A magic spell produced by the head minister, made the gavel stop the erratic, "Thwack, thwack" sound that echoed in the room. There were seats lined up in the Ministry boxes on both sides of the podium where the head minister sat and the other valued workers occupied the uncomfortably hard looking chairs.

Hermione caught sight of someone who must have been a relative of the infamous Rita Skeeter because this woman had similar features. She also worked for the Daily Prophet, and her magical quill was busy writing furiously on a piece of parchment which hung in midair.

Glancing over to the left side of the Ministry of Magic Hermione's breath caught in her throat as she recognized someone else. A woman stepped forward from the gathering of Ministry workers and during the minute when she heard the tinkling laugh a sense of foreboding came over Hermione and her arms spread with goose bumps which made her shiver in reaction. Dolores Jane Umbridge came into view and Hermione winced when she saw the lady with the false smile turn her gaze toward the ghost standing alone in front of the Ministry.

"You have been made aware of your rights have you not, Moaning Myrtle?"

Myrtle nodded timidly and gazed back at Delores Umbridge who said, "Then you must know that you violated the restrictions put forth by the Ministry of Magic to protect you, and you must be punished for your transgressions."

Myrtle looked from Umbridge to the head minister and said in desperate self-defense, "But I had good reason to do what I did. You see, Olive set my things on fire at Hogwarts, my bed, my pictures-everything is gone! How could I stand aside and let her hurt me like she did without doing something about it?"

Ms. Umbridge and the head minister looked at each other with speaking glances before Umbridge started to talk again. Hermione shivered when she caught the cold glint of disbelief in her gaze. Delores Umbridge spoke calmly as she stated the law and said, "No student is allowed to perform any spells of any kind outside of school. You have accused Olive Hornby of malicious actions but are you prepared to offer us any proof that these so called crimes have occurred?"

Hermione's heart sank for Myrtle when she heard the ghost say in a small voice which was barely audible in the crowded room, "I have no proof that she set fire to my belongings…"

"If you have no proof of these crimes against you, then are we simply supposed to take your word for it?"

Hermione watched as Myrtle's confidence shrank to the size of a split pea as she said quietly, "No."

"Then do you expect us to punish Olive Hornby, when you have no evidence to back up your claims about this so called fire incident?"

"No one saw her do it, but I was there!"

"Why didn't you call for help if you were there Myrtle?" Miss Delores Umbridge gave Myrtle a doubtful look as she said, "Was it because you are telling us lies to get attention because you feel the need to distract us from the actual crimes which you, yourself committed against Miss Olive Hornby?"

"I'm not telling you any lies it was the truth! She set fire to my belongings and got away with it because no one but me was there to see her do it!"

"Is this true Ms. Olive Hornby? Did you set fire to Myrtle's belongings at Hogwarts?" The head minister looked from Myrtle to Olive who sat in the stands with her mother by her side and Miss Lucinda Fanghorn was close by still appearing decidedly agitated.

"I have no idea what she is talking about head minister." Olive's cool expression remained eerily calm as she spoke the lie out loud and Myrtle seethed with pure frustrated injustice.

"She's not telling the truth head minister, you've got to believe me!"

Miss Delores Umbridge's impatience began to reveal itself when she responded to Myrtle's outburst with a strong exclamation of her own. Her face turned stone cold red with anger as she said to Myrtle, "You will not lie to us Myrtle when we have proof, a witness claiming she saw you use the spell to eliminate your own charm!"

Miss Umbridge produced a tinkling laugh which sent Hermione's nerves on edge when she said, "The wall of water was a clever trick girl, but unless you are saying that all of us involved with the ministry, are naive fools we have no choice but to offer you the punishment you richly deserve."

"If I should be punished for my actions," said Myrtle with a last call to her own defensiveness she lifted up her chin and Hermione was proud of her when she said, "then Olive should be punished as well. I will accept any punishment I am given because I did break the school rules, but so did she and she should not be absolved of the wrong actions she made against me."

"Without proper evidence of her so called actions, she will be viewed as innocent but you however cannot go unpunished," said Miss Umbridge as she wore a deceptive expression of grudging acceptance. "After all, naughty students must be held accountable for all of their misguided choices and since we have a witness to your crimes, Miss Lucinda Fanghorn, we should take the proper steps necessary to ensure your punishment. Am I right on this instance, head minister?"

Hermione sighed with sad disappointment when Ms. Ottaline Gambol voiced Myrtle's sentence with honest sincerity and said, "I am sorry Miss Myrtle but Delores here is exactly right. You cannot go unpunished when we have a witness to your crimes and since there is no evidence to back up your claims I cannot rightfully accept them as such. I hereby sentence you to spend a solid post-life at Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry until further discussions are warranted. This is my last exclamation on this point, the court is adjourned."

The head minister sank her gavel onto the podium without raising her hand to thrust it down and the crowd began to dissipate as Hermione sat discontentedly with Myrtle in the Ministry's court room. Hermione couldn't be entirely certain but before she was thrown out of the final memory she thought she heard Myrtle mutter softly with her voice slightly cracking with emotion. "So that' is how my story will end then?"


	12. Chapter 12

"So Moaning Myrtle had more going on in her life than she ever let anyone know about," Ron paused and added on a second thought, "except Dumbledore of course."

"Everyone has a right to their own personal life Ron," said Hermione. "She didn't have to say anything she didn't want people to know; she had a right to her privacy." Feeling better once she had finished telling the boys about her latest experiences, Hermione remembered the surprised looks on their faces after she'd told them about how the memory vials worked; and she was ultimately relieved to share with them the intimate details of Myrtle's memories as well.

"I never thought of Myrtle's past before now," said Harry with a bit of regret they could hear clearly in his tone. "I didn't know she had such a rough time not only at school but at home."

"It's alright Harry," said Hermione sympathetically. "There was no way you could know about Myrtle's challenges."

"She's not exactly a chatterbox," said Ron nodding with Hermione in agreement on this one for once.

"Are you going to tell us your next step then Hermione?" asked Ron turning to look directly at his friend.

"Well at first all I wanted was to figure out why Myrtle had flooded all the restrooms and I was looking into helping Harry with his little shadow following him around everywhere…" Hermione heard Ron snicker at the last remark regarding Myrtle and Harry rolled his eyes at them both.

"But now what do you want to do?"

"I think I found out why Myrtle's been following you around all the time Harry."

"Yeah, she wants to get in a little snogging Hermione that's why she's following him around." Ron heaved a breath of impatience and said, "The question is how to get rid of her?"

"The question," said Hermione with some force behind her voice as she glared at Ron, "is in my answer if you will take a minute and hear me out Ron."

"Tell us what you found Hermione." Harry played the mediator and gave Hermione a speaking glance.

Ron rolled his eyes and Hermione gave him a glare before she turned back to Harry and said, "Do you remember in the beginning when Myrtle was being bullied by Olive and her pesky friends?"

"Yes," said Harry. "That was Myrtle's second memory."

Hermione nodded and added, "In this memory I found out why she's been following you around Harry." She made an annoyed motion over at Ron adding, "And it's not because she wants to get in a little snogging time with Harry."

Harry quickly interjected before Ron could respond with a sarcastic retort. Ron sputtered for a moment but he let Harry ask his question. "Why has she been following me?"

"It's because of your grandfather Harry; Charlus Potter." Hermione paused before she said, "Your grandfather reached out to Moaning Myrtle and as far as I can tell he was one of the first to pay any mind to her. When he intervened during the bullying scene with Olive and her two pesky friends he unintentionally started something with Moaning Myrtle; He showed her he cared by helping her, and she took his kindness to heart."

"Let me see if I get this, you're saying the reason why Moaning Myrtle has been hanging over my shoulder is because she's secretly in love with my grandfather?" When Hermione nodded Harry asked, "But my grandfather has long since passed on, and as far as I've heard I am nothing like him. Why would she compare the two of us?"

"Don't discount your grandfather too quickly Harry," said Hermione with a smile of fondness for her friend she nodded pointedly at him. "You might be more alike than you think. You, for instance, are the exact replica of your grandfather in appearance and when he defended Myrtle he reminded me of how caring you can be when your friends need you."

"That's a nice compliment Hermione and a theory worth thinking about but I have another question you might want to check up on next."

Harry frowned while he made quick work to speak his thoughts out loud but before he could voice his follow-up question, Ron said it for him. "How are we going to make Myrtle forget about her crush on Harry's grandfather so she can leave us-I mean, Harry, alone?"

Hermione sighed with impatience over the thought and said, "Haven't figured that one out yet but I'm working on it."

"Here's an idea you might want to try," said Harry with a nod in Hermione's direction. "Maybe you should talk to Myrtle about it."

"And tell her what exactly?" Hermione shook her head as she said, "By the way, I poked around in your memories and found out why you have a crush on my best friend, maybe you want to talk about it?"

"Um well, maybe not in those exact words…" hedged Ron slowly.

"Yeah Sherlock," Hermione shook her head and said, "sort of thought I wouldn't say it like that but I think I have an idea on how to smooth things over when I approach her later. I'll make sure to talk to her about why she's flooded all of the bathrooms as well; somehow I'll work that in there."

"Thanks Hermione, make sure to keep us updated."

When Ron nodded agreeably Hermione turned from the boys and said, "Alright but I'm not that used to girl talk and I doubt that Myrtle is either, so don't be surprised if it takes some time for her to warm up to the idea. You know how she feels about me."

"Yeah you're her most favorite person at Hogwarts," Ron grinned when Hermione gave him a cold look that spoke volumes.

"She's not that fond of you either Ronald since she shouts at you all the time," Hermione shot back.

"Is this the face of a guy who looks like he cares?" Ron showed her his most casual look of indifference and Hermione rolled her eyes. They bickered all the way to their next class but a nagging thought kept Hermione from throwing better pot shots back at him like she normally did.

She was worried about what Myrtle would think about the fact that she had already entered Myrtle's memories and knew some private moments that belonged to the girl. How was Myrtle going to react once she discovered that Hermione had already dug into her three most private memories?


	13. Chapter 13

Several days later Hermione was walking down the hall on the second floor and turned into the girls Lavatory during the minute when she realized that it was flooding. Water had already gathered in small pools on the floor soaking Hermione's shoes and making her shiver at the sudden coldness seeping into her skin. The water didn't yet reach past her shoes however so the bathroom hadn't yet been fully flooded to its maximum height and durability.

When she walked into the restroom she rushed over to the sinks to turn them off when something, or rather someone shrieked from behind her, _"How dare you try to stop my trick, you terrible girl!"_

After a moment's hesitation where Hermione seriously thought she might need to make a run for the nearest stall to dodge the ghost, Hermione remembered one solid thing; Myrtle was in the afterlife and therefore could not hurt her…but someone had undoubtedly hurt Myrtle and not only in physical terms. Hermione wanted to get to the bottom of Myrtle's actions and decided to ask the ghost some honest questions point blank.

"Why are you performing such a trick Myrtle?" Hermione spoke softly but firmly and Myrtle sniffed a few times before she responded.

"Why do you care what I do? Aren't you the girl who made fun of me?"

Hermione took a moment before she answered the ghost and heard the running water continuing to trickle from the faucets behind her when she said, "I care Myrtle because I see someone who has been wrongfully accused of crimes she didn't commit and I want to help you. Regardless of my own past mistakes for which I am sorry, I did not mean to hurt your feelings."

The ghost seemed to consider this newfound thought of someone actually taking the time to apologize for their actions and tilted her head to the side before she nodded silently. Hermione took this as permission to venture further into unguarded territory. She spoke gently to Myrtle who leaned against the top of the bathroom stall to her left, floating about four feet above the wet ground of the Lavatory.

"Why are you flooding all of the restrooms Myrtle it doesn't seem like it would be something you would do, so why go through all the trouble?"

Instead of answering straight away Myrtle sighed and looked down at the stall beside her and said with a distant voice that broke Hermione's heart, "You probably don't know or care, but I died in this stall right here."

She shuddered and Hermione closed her eyes for a minute as the vivid picture of Myrtle's memory came into vision for only a second before she opened her eyes to look at the ghost in front of her. Myrtle didn't look at Hermione when she said, "it's truly a terrible thing to remember your own death so clearly. To see everything as it happened as if you are looking down at yourself and watching all the last seconds of your life add up to the most horrible moment of them all. I remember the reason why I came in here that day you know," she paused before she expounded with her story of that horrible day. Her voice grew slightly unsteady with anger as she said, "I was trying to avoid a classmate who did nothing but torture me throughout my stay here at Hogwarts and I…I did nothing to prevent her from treating me like I was nothing more than a mere speck of dirt on the floor."

Hermione felt sorry for Myrtle all over again and wished she could have been there during that time to help the poor girl. Now she only stood back and waited, listening to Myrtle vent about her death. When the ghost finally looked over at Hermione she saw that Myrtle's eyes looked even more morose than her voice sounded. "There was one boy who stood up to the rotten girl and defended me at one point and he was a relative of a friend of yours."

"Harry," said Hermione succinctly.

"Yes," Myrtle looked at Hermione dubiously before she asked her, "How did you know?" When Hermione said nothing Myrtle shrugged and continued to tell her story through her own point of view. "After seeing that Harry listened to my advice during the Goblet of Fire competition when I helped him with one of the clues, it made me think of Charlus and even though I know it's hopeless I sort of…" Myrtle turned beet red if a ghost usually as pale as a white sheet could flush, this was a good attempt at one.

"You formed a crush on Harry and transferred your feelings for gratitude that you felt for Charlus to my friend."

Myrtle looked at her as if she were seeing her for the first time and then blushed again but this time with embarrassment. She craned her head to the side and said with a bit of shamefulness, "You can tell Harry I won't be following him or that horrible red haired boy around any longer."

Hermione smiled at her description of Ron but then looked at Myrtle and said curiously, "Why the sudden change of heart?"

Myrtle sighed as if she were trying hard to look back into her own memories even as she said with a shrug, "No matter how kind Harry is and no matter how much he resembles his great grandfather," she paused before she added shyly. "He's not the boy I was infatuated with back in the day. Charlus was not your everyday ordinary kind of guy he helped me out, and I always thought of him as you know, one of a kind."

Hermione smiled at the thought but only said companionably to Myrtle, "Yes, but aren't all guys one of a kind though?"

Myrtle laughed a rusty misplaced sound, and Hermione heard the water faucets behind her beginning to turn to the left which meant they'd stop flooding the Lavatory soon. Hermione laughed along with the ghost when Myrtle added with a snarky look, "Mostly just the nice ones who aren't total duds, but yes, you're right on that."

Hermione grinned at the ghost who had surprisingly been added to her friend list and even though she hadn't found out the answer to the question she'd asked Myrtle…she'd discovered why Myrtle had been following Harry around and could fit that missing piece into the puzzle of Myrtle's post-life. Placed and checked for good measure she thought with a satisfactory nod.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

"Hermione," Professor Dumbledore looked up from his desk where he sat writing on a piece of parchment. He smiled fondly at her, pausing with his current task of writing a letter and asked her, "Did you find what you were looking for using the vials for Myrtle's memories?"

"Yes, actually I did." He motioned for her to sit on the other side of his desk in a chair that actually walked over on its four wooden legs when he whistled at it. Hermione took a hesitant seat in the long back chair and continued, "I however have a question to ask you Professor or rather a favor, if I may?"

"Why yes Hermione, go on." His kind eyes twinkled with amusement as if he knew her request she wanted to make before she even voiced the words out loud.

"Well, it's about Myrtle," she paused before she said, "Am I correct in assuming you've already taken a look into her memory vials sir?"

"I have seen all three of them," he finished writing his letter and when Hermione's chair began to wiggle, she clutched onto the arm rests at her sides with surprised widened eyes.

Dumbledore noticed the small gasp she made and laughed lightly as he let his gaze fall to her seat, "Ah now, pay no attention to Augustus beneath you. I have given this particular chair a spell that allows for it to have certain characteristics leaning more toward the canine behavior."

"And you call your chair Augustus, professor?"

"Ah yes, only because the chair started wagging its back end after I gave it the spell and moved around the room as if it were an excited puppy ready to go out for a walk; I had to name him something," Dumbledore chuckled ruefully at himself.

Hermione noticed the startled look Dumbledore suddenly tossed her way when the chair she sat on suddenly lifted off the floor with an excited bounce. She glanced down at the few feet of empty space below her with wide eyes and held on as the chairs flexible legs continued to anxiously jump up and down keeping pace.

"Professor, may I have a different chair please? Maybe one that is perhaps-er-less excited?" Hermione started feeling dizzy as the chair jostled her around and she feared having to go to the infirmary after tumbling from her seat.

She saw the stern look Dumbledore gave her and almost shrank back until she saw that it was aimed more at the chair rather than at her. He commanded the chair with a power-commanding voice, "Down Augustus, down boy!"

To Hermione's relief the chair-like dog obeyed its master, but only partially as the chairs wooden legs skittered clumsily to the floor. Hermione quickly scrambled to a standing position as soon as she could manage to escape and Augustus's legs continued to move unsteadily across the floor in the small space of the office.

She stepped to the side of the chair and breathed a sigh of relief for standing on solid ground, but then during the moment when Dumbledore reached into his robes for his wand the long back chair made one last leap into the air before its wooden body burst into a dozen unexpected pieces scattering through the air.

"Flipendo!" Dumbledore had his wand already poised before Hermione could reach for hers and the jinx he shouted caused the scattered debris to fall backwards without harming her or the Professor. The mess hit the floor with a resounding thud and Hermione heard Dumbledore to the room at large. Even though it was rather an odd spell to cast on a piece of furniture Hermione felt bad about the fate of Dumbledore's chair.

"I'm sorry about Augustus."

"Ah, it's alright Hermione." Dumbledore shrugged his shoulders and glanced at the wooden mess on the floor with only a bit of regret when he said, "Not all spells are lasting ones."

He rubbed his face tiredly before he sat back in his seat and Hermione decided it was best to stand for the rest of her meeting with the Professor when he looked over at her and asked, "How may I help you Hermione, you were speaking about Myrtle weren't you now?"

"Yes," she paused for only a minute before she went on to explain her thoughts on the matter. "I saw the trial that went on between the Ministry of Magic and Myrtle."

"It was an injustice, disgraceful trial," Dumbledore said exactly what she would have said if she were to voice the words out loud.

"Is there anything we can do to help her Dumbledore?" Hermione felt the weight of Myrtle's sentence and said, "I wonder if she would like to leave Hogwarts if she had her freedom. Ending her sentence might be something worth looking into and I thought that if you had any connection to persuading the Ministry to let Myrtle's imprisonment end then maybe…"

Dumbledore finished Hermione's unspoken sentence and said, "All of the pain and challenging experiences she went through will be lighter for her to endure somehow?"

Hermione nodded with agreement and Dumbledore finished folding the letter he'd been writing and sealed it with the Hogwarts official stamp before calling for his owl. He gave Hermione a smile before he said, "I've already written a letter to the Ministry asking for her sentence to be revoked and sending them words of encouragement on Myrtle's behalf. We will hear word from them shortly though they will be the ones who make the final decision in the end; I have a feeling things will work out for Myrtle's greater good."

"I hope so Dumbledore, thank you." Before she left the office she took a moment to turn back to one of the most powerful wizards and asked, "Just curious, what kind of good things did you tell them about Myrtle?"

Dumbledore's expression was kind as he said, "I told them she was trusting, brave, and warm." His face became deadpan when he continued to say, "Then well you know of course Myrtle has been flooding all of the bathrooms excessively most recently. I wrote to them explaining only that she's always making certain our students have cleaner Lavatories, and this great service helps the students at Hogwarts remain healthy and then they are able to complete their classes and pass their exams with more success."

Hermione couldn't help it she chuckled out loud and said cheering completely for Dumbledore's side. "Way to go Professor! Now she'll be allowed to go free for _good behavior_; brilliant move."

Dumbledore smiled back at Hermione and nodded, "More points for thinking on the bright side of things. After all it wasn't holily untrue; the flooding of water mixed with all the soap in the Lavatories has helped to clean the nasty germs that magic spells can't cure and Myrtle did have some hand in that."

Hermione gave Dumbledore a doubtful shake of her head but she was smiling as she did so and she chuckled as she left his office. She couldn't entirely be certain but she thought she could hear the Professor's stout chuckle of amusement echo along the walls of the hall as she departed.


	15. Chapter 15

Hermione rushed over to Harry and Ron who were busy eating their afternoon meal in the Great Hall. She sat down beside Ron and thrust a piece of paper in front of his face, "Look at this, it came! The response to the letter Dumbledore wrote to the Ministry of Magic-it took them long enough to answer, three weeks actually, but it's here!"

"What was the final answer then?" Unlike Ron who kept chewing on his chicken drum stick as if he hadn't eaten a meal in three weeks, Harry looked over at Hermione with interest on the matter.

"I'll read you what the letter says," Hermione spread the letter out on the table next to a plate filled with potatoes and other magically grown vegetables. Professor Sprout had recently started to grow her own vegetables organically. Hermione could always tell which ones were grown from the quirky teacher because the vegetables tended to move and wriggle around on the table as if they had minds of their own. The plate to her left had a small amount of potatoes and carrots shifting and moving against each other, so Hermione shoved the plate away and one of the students to her left cried out, "Hey!" When Hermione glanced over she saw that one of the small spuds had taken a fast leap into the air and had slammed the unsuspecting kid squarely in the eye.

Ron had seen the whole thing and chuckled, "Oh, that's going to be a shiner. Poor kid," he glanced over at Hermione with a shrug. "Hey why don't you stop stalling and read us your letter before we find something more exciting to talk about?"

Hermione reached over and smacked Ron's arm rolling her eyes at him before she took the letter in hand. "Look it says the head Minister of Magic Cornelius Oswald Fudge wrote the contents of the letter himself."

"Oswald," Ron snickered at the name and Hermione gave him a dirty glare before she turned back to the matter at hand.

"Come on Hermione, read it," Harry was getting impatient so she took the letter and quoted from the important parts of it.

**To Albus Dumbledore, head master of Hogwarts Witchcraft and Wizardry:**

**I have read the information you disclosed in your letter and I have come to a conclusion which may surprise you. I'm known as somewhat strict in some parts of the wizarding world but I can hold a soft spot or two for some. When it was brought to my attention that Ms. Myrtle has been consigned to the grounds of Hogwarts since her untimely death I shudder to think of what the poor girl must have gone through when she was among the living…"**

Hermione skipped down a few paragraphs which described a few of the details Dumbledore had put in his letter telling the Minister a little about Myrtle's neglected life.

"**I've come to the conclusion that because Myrtle's death was in fact a result of a murder conducted by He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named I feel more sympathy toward the poor girl than I otherwise might have felt. With this in mind, I have decided to award Myrtle with the matter of **_**choice**_** regarding her sentence. If she **_**chooses**_** to leave Hogwarts at any time in the future from here on, she can do so freely. If she wants to stay at the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry where she is familiar with her surroundings then, she can stay as well. I leave the decision up to Ms. Myrtle to make.**

**By the way, Dumbledore I tried your Haggis at the last pot luck we held for the Ministry and professor's from various school districts. What was the secret ingredient you put in the sheep's pluck to make the pudding taste so scrumptious?"**

Hermione winced at the last paragraph's detailed description of her least favorite dish and looked over at her friends. She smiled with her eyes when she said, "Do you realize what this means for Myrtle?"

"Aside from the nasty description of Haggis in the letter I'd say it was a rather enlightening read from Fudge."

"Hey I like Haggis my mum makes it with sausage casings sometimes."

When Harry made a face of disgust at his friend Hermione smacked them both on their heads with the letter.

"You idiots, this isn't about the Haggis, this is about Myrtle. She's free to do as she wishes, can't you see?"

"Yes we can see Hermione and that's good news, but will she stay at Hogwarts? Or will she leave everyone here and find another place to live?"

"It's up to her," Hermione looked a bit glum then said, "I'd better get this letter back to Dumbledore before he starts looking around for it in his office."

"You mean you took the letter from Dumbledore without him saying you could?" Ron's mouth practically fell open with shock. Then he grinned, "You've been hanging around us too long Hermione. You're starting to act like us now; you know that's stealing when you take something without asking for it right?"

"Yes but I'm not _stealing_ the letter, I'm only borrowing it," Hermione rolled her eyes at him and turned her back to her friends when something appeared behind her coming from out of nowhere.

"Oh Myrtle," Hermione saw the ghost float up from the side of the wall near the entrance to the Great Hall. When she came up behind Hermione she was looking at her with some suspicion.

"Is that the letter you and the Professor have been waiting for?"


	16. Chapter 16

Hermione looked up at Myrtle with a guilty expression on her face and didn't bother hiding the letter she held in her hands, "Um, yes it is Myrtle."

"Well," Myrtle gave Hermione a questioning nod. "What does it say?"

Hermione was about to answer the ghost when she looked behind Myrtle and noticed the black cat approaching them from across the room. The cat was shaking her head at Hermione and narrowing her dark eyes as if she wanted to tell Hermione something.

"Woe, that's wicked." Ron poked Harry in the ribs and said with wide eyes, "That cat looks like she wants to talk to us, doesn't she?"

"Where did she come from?"

Hermione shrugged at Harry's question but then everyone, including Myrtle looked at the mysterious creature who kept nodding her head in the direction of the door leading outside the Great Hall.

"She wants us to follow her," Hermione pushed away from the table and motioned to Myrtle and the boys, "Come on then. Let's go."

They followed her through the halls of Hogwarts and didn't stop until they stood in front of a solid door. When the cat suddenly transformed back into the form of their teacher, Ron stumbled into Harry and Myrtle gasped out, "Professor McGonagall!"

"Yes, it's me Myrtle." The professor wore a stern expression of disapproval on her face as she turned to Hermione, "I see you have some explaining to do Ms. Granger however I will let you tell your story of why you took a letter containing vital information from the Ministry to the professor himself, Since Dumbledore is in his office now, you may go in. He is waiting for you Ms. Granger and Ms. Myrtle. Boys, you may follow me to the common room, I am sure you can afford to put in more study time for some of your classes especially you Mr. Weasley."

Hermione felt decidedly ill at the thought of telling Dumbledore that she took the letter from his office without asking. Ron leaned over and in a hushed tone braved the glare McGonagall gave him when he said, "Sure you don't want us to stay with you Hermione? We could lose McGonagall and tell Dumbledore you meant no harm."

When Harry nodded at the idea Hermione felt instantly more at ease even though she shook her head at the boys and gave Ron one of her rare smiles, "No thank you. I think you'd better do as McGonagall says and follow her. I have Myrtle with me here, and I will be fine."

Ron gave Myrtle a slight frown but then nodded to Hermione, "Just remember whatever punishment he gives you, Harry and I have probably already gone through it before."

Hermione laughed and gave him an easy shove in the direction of McGonagall, "I'm sure you have Ron, you two go ahead. I'll catch up with you later."

"Wait," Myrtle watched as they turned around the corner and left. She glanced down at Hermione nervously as if she had just noticed their disappearance for the first time. "They're leaving us to enter Dumbledore's office by ourselves?"

"We will be fine you have nothing to worry about Myrtle." Hermione's assurance seemed to make Myrtle feel somewhat better since she sighed when Hermione went to knock on the door.

Before Hermione could proceed to let Dumbledore know of their presence outside his office, the professor called out to them through the door, "You may come in Ms. Granger, Myrtle, I've been expecting the two of you."

"Professor, I'd like to start out by saying that it was my idea to take the letter from you without asking. Myrtle had nothing to do with it, and I don't think she should-" Hermione began to stand up for her friend. But then she spotted Dumbledore standing in the corner of his office watering a plant that looked very much alive. She stopped talking and watched as the plant which had the appearance of a normal Anthurium Andraean with elliptical leaves started to shake when Dumbledore fed it an ounce of water, Hermione gasped. The leaf of the plant then started to move and rustle about on the shelf and when Dumbledore stepped back from watering the plant, the large leaf reached out and slapped the professor directly across the face.

"Dumbledore," Hermione stepped forward and Myrtle moaned, "Are you alright professor?"

"What," Dumbledore asked dazedly. Then he pointed a disciplinary finger at the plant and said, "No more water for you, that's enough for today!"

When he took a step forward Hermione reached for her wand preparing to help the professor but then the plant shuddered, trembled, and moaned, much like Myrtle beside her. Before Hermione knew it, the plants large leaves shrank in size as it retreated back into the shelf at Dumbledore's side appearing harmless once again.

"This is an interesting office professor," observed Hermione putting away her wand and thinking of the last time she'd been in here. The professor only nodded and smoothed over his reddened cheek before he turned to her and demanded, "Ms. Granger, you took the letter from my office. Why?"

"I uh-I just wanted-"

Hermione paused in front of the professor searching for the right words when Myrtle approached Dumbledore at her side.

"She did it for me professor," Myrtle went on with her explanation even though Hermione knew it wasn't the truth. "I asked her to bring me the letter because I wanted to see what the Ministry had to say about me, I wanted to see if they'd say anything at all."

Dumbledore held up his hand in a motion for her to stop talking and looked at the two girls, "I don't condone thieves Ms. Granger, but I can see that you were only trying to get word to your friend about the news concerning her sentence here at Hogwarts." He paused and motioned for Hermione to give him the document. When she did he placed it in front of him and added, "I will let it pass this time Hermione as I have some important information to tell Ms. Myrtle."

When he turned to Hermione he gave her a gentler smile than he'd shown to her before and asked, "Would you like to tell her what the Ministry has to say about her sentence?"

"Yes professor, gladly."

"Myrtle, the Minister left it up to you to decide." Hermione smiled at her friend and added, "He gave you a choice, you can choose to leave Hogwarts and go wherever you want after that, or you can decide to stay here and this could be your home. Either way, your sentence has been revoked you are free to do as you wish."

Myrtle stood floating in front of Hermione in her ghost's form and said nothing. Her expression was that of stunned silence as Hermione and Professor Dumbledore waited for her response.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen:

Myrtle stared at Hermione and Dumbledore as if she had suddenly been struck by a magical, bolt of lightning. She looked as if she'd been petrified, floating solidly in one place straight above them. Myrtle was speechless after hearing the new from Hermione, for only a moment, before she became extremely angry.

She suddenly sprang into action and thrust her face right in front of the Professor's face. Her own face contorted as Myrtle screamed at him, _"I want to see the letter!"_

Catching Hermione's eye Myrtle turned to her and cried out with feeling, _"How dare you deceive me, Hermione, I thought you were my only friend! How could you lie to me by saying I'm free, when I know without a doubt that I am not. No one has ever paid any attention to Moaning Myrtle, why would anyone start caring about me now?" _Her voice broke into small heart breaking whimpers.

"Myrtle," Hermione chose a soothing voice as she approached her friend who huddled behind a full length mirror sitting in the corner of the office. The mirror had been covered only minutes before by a thick black blanket. After Myrtle had flown over the mirror in order to hide behind it, the blanket fell to the ground and the mirror was revealed.

Hermione was started to approach her friend when Dumbledore laid a warning hand on her shoulder. His tone was filled with caution, "Careful Hermione. This mirror has a curse upon it. An old friend of mine gave the mirror as a gift to me a few years ago and since then I've been trying to break the curse but I haven't succeeded. I've been spending my free time mulling over my books containing rare spells to see if I can find a glitch somewhere. I wanted to see if I might unravel the deadly curse, but so far nothing has worked. There was too much powerful influence put into the curse from the one who caused the damage."

Hermione wondered who might have been powerful enough to cast such a long standing curse that even Dumbledore could not break it. She was afraid she already knew the answer when she asked grudgingly, "Who was it who cursed this mirror Professor?"

"Tom Riddle," Dumbledore said the name slowly and Myrtle shrunk into the corner behind the mirror trembling from head to foot.

"The curse on the glass of the mirror is triggered by touch."

"So," Hermione met Myrtle's eyes and her voice was filled with reassurance, "as long as no one _touches_ the glass then we will be safe?"

Dumbledore nodded but Hermione couldn't help but ask quietly, "What happens when the curse is activated by someone's touch?"

"They've been known to disappear forever, inside the mirror…"

"You mean, we'll get sucked into the mirror if we touch it?" Hermione felt a shiver of fear race along her spine as Myrtle plastered herself to the wall behind her. Fearfully gazing at the mirror Myrtle had unintentionally hidden behind, she met Hermione's eyes and whispered a plea for help. Hermione tried her best to comfort her friend, "You'll be fine Myrtle, the Professor and I will help you get away from the mirror, you don't need to worry."

Dumbledore said quietly as if he were talking out loud to himself in a chiding sort of way. He glanced at Hermione and then looked away again, "I normally have the mirror locked up in a safe location, protected from anyone who might be harmed by it…but today I was working on an attempt to free the people who have already been sucked into the mirror. I didn't think about removing it from my office from unsuspecting students. I should have known better."

Dumbledore took a minute and made his way over to Myrtle and the mirror. He spoke soothingly, reassuring the ghost with his voice as he stepped closer to her. "You're alright Myrtle." Hermione noticed the small three inch gap between the mirror and Myrtle's hiding place behind it. Dumbledore carefully stretched out his hand to the fearful ghost and Myrtle looked at him through her spectacles, with dark eyes that widened with terror.

_Tom Riddle had been the one who killed Myrtle._ Hermione thought of the memory she'd seen of Myrtle's body suspended in mid-air after the terrible deed had been done. The curse he'd placed on the mirror was provided by none other than Myrtle's most fearful and dreaded enemy. It would take all the courage Myrtle possessed to reach out and take Dumbledore's hand in order to step safely away from the hazardous mirror.

"I-I can't fly over the m-m-irror, I-I'm t-too s-scared," she trembled even where she sat. Hermione held her breath even though she saw that the back of the glass was encased in solid pasty pine. She didn't know if the curse would be activated through touch if Myrtle's ghostly form slipped up and bumped the casing around the back of the glass.

"You don't need to fly over it Myrtle, just reach out your hand, there you go…and take Dumbledore's." Hermione coaxed her in the same tone someone might use to tame a wild animal. Fearfully Myrtle reached a shaking hand over to Dumbledore and the Professor reacted quickly during the minute their palms made contact.

Hermione was surprised that Dumbledore's hand did not simply move straight through Myrtle's ghostly form. But through some whispered words of magic spoken from Dumbledore, which he muttered indecipherably beneath his breath, the Professor had the ability to pull Myrtle from even death threatening harm. Myrtle was moved safely away from the detrimental mirror.

Hermione rushed over to her friend's side, she would have hugged her if she could, but since she didn't have the ability to do so; she simply sighed in relief, "Are you alright now Myrtle?"

"Y-yes, I t-think so…" Myrtle still trembled and she was gazing at Dumbledore with curiosity and with some new sense of admiration that edged its way into her eyes, "You-you saved me Professor."

He breathed deeply and took a minute to respond, sitting back against his desk to rest for a minute. It seemed that touching Myrtle's hand had taken some strength from Dumbledore. The Professor appeared to look decidedly drained, and even though he smiled warmly at Myrtle and nodded in response. Hermione worried about him.

"Professor, are you alright?"

His kind eyes turned to her and warmed even more as his words reassured her, "Yes Hermione. Thank you for inquiring. It seems that reaching over into another realm can cause some drainage of one's own life energy."

"Is that what you did then? Did you use _the post life_ spell so that you could take Myrtle's hand and save her?" asked Hermione gazing at him curiously. She wasn't able to hear the words he'd muttered beneath his breath…but she'd been almost positive that he had used a rare spell, unheard of by most, in order to reach out and touch Myrtle's ghostly hand with his live flesh.

If it was the _post life_ spell then Hermione knew that the use of this rare spell could shave a year or two off of the living person's life if they succeeded in touching the non-living person. Dumbledore had succeeded, and in doing so, he had sacrificed a year of his own life in order to save Myrtle. With every spell and every curse cast, there was a price that must be paid.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Dumbledore, I-I can't believe you did that for me." Myrtle started to cry as she glanced from Dumbledore to Hermione and wailed, "Both of you have been so good to me. . ."

"Then why do seem so sad," Hermione thought the poor ghost looked as if someone had just run over her cuddly puppy.

"Because," she stopped crying and then smiled at Hermione and sighed, "I'm going to miss both of you."

"You've decided to leave," Dumbledore had gained back most of his strength by now and came to stand before Myrtle. He gave her an affectionate smile and Hermione reciprocated the action. "Myrtle," his smile softened as he said, "wherever you plan to go, I hope you know that you'll always have a place to return to if you ever wish to come back to Hogwarts."

Myrtle began to cry again but these were happier tears and Hermione felt her own emotions crawl up to the surface. Her tears were for her friend, and Myrtle turned from Dumbledore in time to see them slide down her cheeks.

"How can I ever repay you, Hermione for making this possible for me?" She smiled at Hermione and Hermione felt a rush of warmth as if she were being hugged by an invisible being in the room.

"What was that for?" She knew it was Myrtle's way of reaching out to her in the only way she knew how, through her emotions she'd given Hermione a hug.

"That hug was for our friendship." Moaning Myrtle paused and then she squealed with delight. It was such an un-Myrtle-like sound coming from the ghost, that both Hermione and Dumbledore took a step back. Then they burst out laughing because Myrtle began to twirl around in the air above them shouting, _"I'm free, I'm free, Oh my, how wonderful that I'm free!"_

Hermione did a little happy dance in account of the celebration and Dumbledore chuckled at them and shook his head with affection, "you two have given me very good memories to end this trying day with, thank you . . . and now I am to retire for the evening with a spot of pickled relish tea to help me relax from the days labors."

He left his office and told Hermione before he closed the door behind him, "Make sure that you turn out the lights using your wand Hermione you know how to do the light trick, I'm sure. Shut the door behind you, when you leave. Myrtle, good luck with everything you venture toward in your life, you will always have a home at Hogwarts if you want it."

Myrtle waved at Dumbledore and stopped twirling when Hermione spoke up from the side, "Myrtle, where do you plan to go?"

Myrtle stopped for a moment and gave Hermione a shrug as if she knew exactly where she was going but had no wish to reveal her secret as yet, "I will send you a post card, Hermione, after I get there." With a small wave and a wide smile, Myrtle turned from Hermione and left the room. She departed the castle that day. Hermione waved her wand around the office with a swish and flick of her wrist and said, "_Lights managed_." The lights went off immediately swallowing her up in the darkness of the room until she swiftly closed the door quietly behind her.

"Why are you drinking your pumpkin juice while you're plugging your nose Ronald?"

Ron glanced at Hermione while they sat in the eating room feasting on meat loaf surprise. At Hermione's question Ron kept his nose plugged and his voice came back whiney and nasal. Hermione couldn't help but smile as Harry snickered beside them.

"I'm eating with my nose plugged because I hate the smell of meatloaf surprise but I love the taste of it. Why do you always have to ask _so many_ questions Hermione?"

"Because I love asking them, especially since I know they annoy you so much." Hermione wrinkled her nose at Ron when an announcement came that there mail was arriving by the usual owl delivery.

Her owl was spotted and beautifully majestic, gliding into the window of Hogwarts and landed smoothly in front of Hermione's plate filled with her half eaten dinner.

She took the mail from the owl, slid her hand down the creature's sleek furry back and nodded for his okay to return home to her mother and father. The owl gave her a saucy wink before he departed from the room leaving the single piece of mail in Hermione's waiting hands. She wondered if her parents had sent her their monthly newsletter from home, or if this was some form of—

She glanced down at the mail and saw a picture of a lighthouse that blinked a flashing light, moving at about every two or three seconds across the post card. Myrtle had written something scrawled at the bottom printed in neat tidy letters,

"**Decided to go back to my favorite place and wanted to scare the sailor's as they travel in from the sea. This flashing light moving around and around keeps the sailor's on their toes; it keeps them wondering what the light keeper is doing in there! Was appointed as the new light keeper on the island, and I'm enjoying every minute of it. Wish you were here,**

**Your special friend,**

**Myrtle, no longer Moaning"**

Harry had peeked at the card and read it out loud to the group. Hermione smiled and Ron joked, "Good. Maybe she'll find a ghostly boyfriend on one of those sailor' ships and leave our poor Harry alone."

Thinking of Harry's dilemma which had actually started the whole adventure in the first place Hermione smiled, set down the post card and thought out loud with a small sigh, "Perhaps she will."

_The End_


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